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'Iolani School Indigenous Peoples' Day: Values

Hawaiian Values Flash Cards by Georgina Tom
"The cultural and linguistic heritage of indigenous peoples contributes to the world’s diversity. Their knowledge and practices have enhanced respect for the environment and the natural resources of the world's communities, food security, health and education. Indigenous peoples’ knowledge of traditional medicines, for example, has contributed immensely to protecting the health of both indigenous and nonindigenous peoples.
(p. 6)

Language

What is the importance of land and the environment to indigeneity?

Guest Speaker at 'Iolani School

Ea : pages 3 - 5

  • Political independence, sovereignty, life, breath
  • “Ea is an active state of being. Like breathing, ea cannot be achieved or possessed; it requires constant action day after day, generation after generation”
  • “Unlike Euro-American philosophical notions of sovereignty, ea is based on the experiences of people on the land, relationships forged through the process of remembering and caring for wahi pana, storied places.”
  • “Ea referred to the environment that sustains life for creatures such as fish or humans. Water and air provide the media in which we absorb the oxygen that gives us life. Ea, then, is essential for survival. It is the environment in which we thrive. In exchange, people help to make the earth healthy and productive. In that sense, ea refers to the mutual interdependence of all life forms and forces.”

Indigenous Ways of Thinking / Indigenous Knowledge Systems

 

"We affirm the inherent dignity and rights of every person. We work to recognize and dismantle systemic and individual biases; to confront inequity and oppression; to enhance diversity and inclusion; and to advance racial and social justice in our libraries, communities, profession, and associations through awareness, advocacy, education, collaboration, services, and allocation of resources and spaces."
American Library Association Code of Ethics, Principal no. 9.
See also, Library Bill of Rights.